Facebook, Google and other tech firms aid in Nepal earthquake relief

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Workers of the German Red Cross (DRK) prepare a load of humanitarian aid for victims of the earthquake in Nepal, in front of an aircraft at Schoenefeld airport outside Berlin, April 27, 2015. The German Red Cross will start an aid flight bringing relief goods to earthquake-ravaged Nepal. AFP PHOTO / POOL / HANNIBAL HANSCHKEHANNIBAL HANSCHKE/AFP/Getty Images

Nepalese volunteers unload relief material brought in an Indian air force helicopter for victims of Saturday s earthquake at Trishuli Bazar in Nepal, Monday, April 27, 2015. The death toll from Nepal's earthquake is expected to rise depended largely on the condition of vulnerable mountain villages that rescue workers were still struggling to reach two days after the disaster. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Silicon Valley tech firms, including Facebook and Google, are pitching in to aid rescue and relief efforts after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit Nepal on Saturday killing thousands of people.

Facebook on Monday launched a fundraising campaign that matches every dollar donated — up to $2 million — to the International Medical Corps, a nonprofit that is delivering medical care to earthquake survivors in the region.

But setting up donation pages is not the only way that tech companies are helping in the aftermath of natural disasters. People are flocking to Twitter, Facebook and other sites to find out if their loved ones are OK and gather real-time information about what’s happening throughout the world.

“It used to be that the only way we could provide assistance was going physically to a place and bringing donations. But now people who have tech skills or have an interest in helping can get online,” said Jeannette Sutton, a disaster sociologist and an assistant communications professor at the University of Kentucky. Social media not only help people directly affected by natural disasters, but also help people outside their community feel they’re doing something effective with their time and resources, she said.

Facebook, for example, has activated a feature called “Safety Check” that allows people affected by natural disasters to let their family and friends know they’re OK. The social network said Monday that millions of people have been marked safe and that “tens of millions” were notified that someone they knew was safe.

Google has a Person Finder tool that helps people find missing family members or post information about someone affected by a natural disaster. As of Monday afternoon, the database was tracking about 6,200 records.

“It’s moments like this that being able to connect really matters,” Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote in a post during the weekend about Safety Check.

When Safety Check is activated people in the area affected by a natural disaster receive a Facebook notification asking if they’re safe. By tapping the “I’m Safe” button, they let family and friends know on their Newsfeed that they’re OK. The company created the tool after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

Facebook isn’t the only tech company assisting in disaster relief beyond setting up donation pages.

Business-oriented social network LinkedIn said Monday that it partnered with the Digital Humanitarian Network to use LinkedIn to help find unmanned aerial vehicle experts in the region who can use their technology to get better information to relief workers about the most impacted areas.

The online response to the Nepal earthquake is reminiscent of how tech firms and people have harnessed technology and social networks in the past to respond to natural disasters, including during Hurricane Sandy, the 2010 Haiti earthquake and the 2011 tsunami in Japan.

“The first place that we often turn to for news beyond mass media is our own personal networks, and social media is serving that channel now,” Sutton said.

Here’s what Silicon Valley tech firms, including Facebook and Google, are doing to aid rescue and relief efforts after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit Nepal on Saturday.Facebook: The social networking company is matching every dollar donated — up to $2 million — to the International Medical Corps. People interested in donating can do so through www.facebook.com/nepalearthquakesupport or by clicking a donate button on the top of their Facebook Newsfeed. Facebook also has a feature called “Safety Check” that allows users to let their family and friends know they’re OK, check on others and mark friends as safe.Google: The company has a Person Finder tool that helps people find missing family members or post information about someone affected by the natural disaster. To view the database, go to https://google.org/personfinder/2015-nepal-earthquake.Apple: The iTunes store has an American Red Cross donations page, allowing people to make donations ranging from $5 to $200.LinkedIn: Partnering with the Network for Good, the company has a donation page that lets people easily donate to charities online such as the American Red Cross, GlobalGiving, Catholic Relief Services and more. To donate, go to https://donate.networkforgood.org/linkedin.

Queenie Wong covers social media businesses, including Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, for The Mercury News. She grew up in Southern California and is a graduate of Washington and Lee University where she earned bachelor's degrees in journalism and studio art.

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